Anyway, there are about 30 minutes left in England's 2026 World Cup campaign, and they should be entertaining.
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
World Cup: England v. Dem. Rep. of the Congo
This game kicked off at 11 A.M. Central, and England promptly fell behind 1-0 after only seven minutes. The English defense fell completely asleep, and a DRC player was left with an easy shot that he blasted past the goalkeeper. England have been chasing the game ever since. They have outshot the DRC 10 to 3, but the DRC have had 43 percent of the possession, so the traffic has not all gone one way. We are now in the 62d minute, and my guess is that England are probably going out. Which will be a humiliating result for England, but on the other hand they weren't ever getting past Mexico in the next round anyway. They just aren't good enough.
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Gareth Southgate (ENG) managed England from 9/27/16 to 07/16/24. His record was 61-17-24. Under his leadership, England went to the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup, the final of the 2020 Euro Championships, the quarter-final of the 2022 World Cup, and the final of the 2024 Euro Championships. That's four quarter-finals in a row, and three of four trips to the semi-finals. Before Southgate, England hadn't been to the semi-final of a major tournament since 1990, and hadn't been to the final of the major tournament since 1966.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the English concluded that Southgate was a failure because he lost all four tournaments. But he was far and away the best manager they've had since the 1960's, and they were crazy to think they'd be better off without him.
ReplyDeleteThis version of England -- the one that's going out to DR Congo -- is much more representative of what they are usually like.
ReplyDelete70 minutes: England 0 - 1 Dem. Rep. of Congo
ReplyDeleteI have no idea how England scored four goals against Croatia.
ReplyDeleteAt the second water break, you could see the England manager berating the team on the sidelines -- and now England have scored! Harry Kane heads in a shot from just in front of the goal, and we are tied. The England fans in Atlanta are going nuts.
ReplyDelete76 minutes: England 1 - 1 Dem. Rep. of Congo
ReplyDeleteEngland should go for the kill now -- they do not want penalty kicks.
80 minutes: England 1 - 1 Dem. Rep. of Congo
ReplyDeleteDem. Rep. of the Congo continues to keep their whole team in front of the goal, because they are obviously playing for penalty kicks. However, they will take a shot on counterattack if possible.
ReplyDeleteTo break down this type of defense, you need to control the ball and make very precise passes -- or get very lucky. England got lucky once, so we'll have to see if they can do so again.
ReplyDeleteOK, now it's time to talk about Harry Kane. I'm very tough on Kane, because I don't think he's at the level of Mbappe or Messi. But he is very, very good, and he just scored a spectacular goal for England. We had all the usual nonsense going on in front of the penalty box, and Kane finally took the ball with the attitude of, "Well, I've had just about enough of this." He dribbled away from three defenders, and then -- with four defenders all closing in on him, he smacked a volcanic shot from the top of the penalty area into the net. The shot was struck so hard and true that the goalkeeper never had a chance. That was a great example of what British sportswriters call "quality" -- a play that could only have been made by a great player.
ReplyDelete88th minute: England 2 - 1 Dem. Rep. of Congo
ReplyDelete90th minute: England 2 - 1 Dem. Rep. of Congo
ReplyDelete6 minutes of injury time
The Guardian reports that Kane's shot was going 94 km/h (58.4 mph) when it entered the net. Gives you a sense of how hard he hit it.
ReplyDeleteOK, now here's the thing about soccer. If you are down by one goal in a big match, you will get a free kick in front of the penalty box at some point. The whole game stops, and everyone spends a lot of time figuring out how the free kick will work. With 6 minutes of injury time gone, DRC is now getting that chance.
ReplyDeleteThe free kick goes over the goal, and England are going to advance.
ReplyDeleteFull Time: England 2 - 1 Dem. Rep. of Congo
ReplyDeleteWell, I underestimated Harry Kane, and he made the difference. What a comeback! But I'm pretty sure that England are still going out at Mexico.
I don't think England will win at Azteca, but I do think England will enjoy being in a match where there is so much pressure on the other side. I am really looking forward to Mexico v. England.
ReplyDelete